Department of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.
Pain Med. 2012 Jan;13(1):45-57. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2011.01294.x.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of brief therapy dog visits to an outpatient pain management facility compared with time spent in a waiting room.
The design of this study is open-label. Setting. This study was conducted in a university tertiary care adult chronic pain outpatient clinic.
The subjects of this study include outpatients, adults accompanying outpatients to their appointments, and clinic staff. Intervention. Participants were able to spend clinic waiting time with a certified therapy dog instead of waiting in the outpatient waiting area. When the therapy dog was not available, individuals remained in the waiting area.
Self-reported pain, fatigue, and emotional distress were recorded using 11-point numeric rating scales before and after the therapy dog visit or waiting room time.
Two hundred ninety-five therapy dog visits (235 with patients, 34 family/friends, and 26 staff) and 96 waiting room surveys (83 from patients, 6 family/friends, and 7 staff) were completed over a 2-month study period. Significant improvements were reported for pain, mood, and other measures of distress among patients after the therapy dog visit but not the waiting room control, with clinically meaningful pain relief (decrease ≥2 points) in 23% after the therapy dog visit and 4% in the waiting room control. Significant improvements were likewise seen after therapy dog visits for family/friends and staff.
Therapy dog visits in an outpatient setting can provide significant reduction in pain and emotional distress for chronic pain patients. Therapy dog visits can also significantly improve emotional distress and feelings of well-being in family and friends accompanying patients to appointments and clinic staff.
本研究旨在评估与在候诊室等待相比，短暂的治疗犬探访对门诊疼痛管理机构的影响。
本研究的设计为开放标签。地点：本研究在一所大学的成人慢性疼痛门诊诊所进行。
本研究的对象包括门诊患者、陪同门诊患者就诊的成年人和诊所工作人员。干预措施：参与者可以在有认证治疗犬的情况下在诊所候诊区度过候诊时间，而不是在门诊等候区等待。当治疗犬不可用时，个体仍在等候区。
在治疗犬访问或等候室时间前后，使用 11 点数字评分量表记录自我报告的疼痛、疲劳和情绪困扰。
在为期 2 个月的研究期间，完成了 295 次治疗犬探访（235 次与患者、34 次与家属/朋友和 26 次与工作人员）和 96 次等候室调查（83 次来自患者、6 次与家属/朋友和 7 次与工作人员）。在治疗犬访问后，患者报告的疼痛、情绪和其他困扰措施显著改善，但等候室对照没有显著改善，治疗犬访问后有 23%的患者疼痛缓解明显（疼痛减轻≥2 分），而等候室对照只有 4%。家属/朋友和工作人员在治疗犬访问后也同样看到了显著的改善。
在门诊环境中，治疗犬探访可以为慢性疼痛患者提供显著减轻疼痛和情绪困扰的效果。治疗犬探访还可以显著改善陪伴患者就诊的家属/朋友和诊所工作人员的情绪困扰和幸福感。
